


Do You Know?

by eugeneismyqueen



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Angst, BASICALLY THEY’RE GONNA LEARN ABOUT PAINTING AND LOCKPICKS AND SEX AND FIGHTING AND LOVE!!!!!!!, Before the Series, Eugene learns how to paint in chapter 2, F/M, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by What You Don't Know, New Dream, New Dream (Disney: Tangled), Painting, Pascal wants to be painted like a French girl, Pillow Talk, Rapunzel and Eugene explore the world together, Romantic Fluff, Sexy Times, They take turns teaching each other new things, lots of fluff, post-movie: Tangled, takes place in canon setting, theres some angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23993416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eugeneismyqueen/pseuds/eugeneismyqueen
Summary: Rapunzel still has a lot to learn about the world outside of her tower, and lucky for her, her roguish, ex-thief of a boyfriend, Eugene Fitzherbert is all but willing to help her make these new discoveries. And lucky for Rapunzel, there are things that Eugene doesn’t know how to do either and she takes it upon herself to teach him. “Do You Know?” will find Rapunzel and Eugene exploring their relationship  and learning new things about the world, themselves, and each other.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 40
Kudos: 114





	1. The Birds and the Bees

**Author's Note:**

> Although she hasn't been out of the tower long, Rapunzel's relationship with Eugene is definitely heating up in the spare moments they can find time to be together. Eugene realizes Gothel filled Rapunzel's head with a lot of misinformation about men and sex, and must take it upon himself to explain what sex really is.

Rapunzel had snuck her way into Eugene’s room again. It was the third time that week alone. Not that he minded. Her presence made the unreasonably large bed feel less lonely and she was always warm and snuggly.

Except they weren’t exactly snuggling this time.

It had been a couple of months since they’d moved into the castle, and their time together had become more and more limited as tutors and dressmakers and whatever else kept her schedule packed tight as they tried to jam 18 years worth of information into their lost princess’s head. And Eugene was kept busy, too. He had to learn Corona’s laws, and study history, and learn manners and how to shake people’s hands, and what a gentleman courting a Princess was not supposed to do. Which, they were currently ignoring _those_ rules.

It was only in the dead of night that Rapunzel could find any uninterrupted attention from Eugene. So what if they lost a bit of sleep from time to time? They were young and spry. And making out was more fun anyways.

Eugene pulled a delightful little moan from Rapunzel’s lips as he dragged his own lips away from hers and down the soft column of her neck to her collarbone. Her fingers wound through his hair as he licked and sucked on her skin, pulling the collar of her silk nightgown down just a bit to gain access to a better spot on her chest to leave his hidden mark.

Things had been growing increasingly _hotter_ between them lately. Eugene was a patient man when it came to Rapunzel, but with the route their makeout sessions were taking, he knew they’d have to have _the talk_ sooner or later. He didn’t know how much, if anything Rapunzel knew about sex. He wasn’t planning on having sex with her anytime soon, of course. She was still learning so much and she needed him to take things slow— _even as she wrapped her leg around his torso and twisted, flipping him onto his back and crawling on top of his chest to take control of kissing him._ He wouldn’t want her to feel like he was taking advantage of her or something. He just wanted to know her stance on the whole “sex” ordeal.

“Sunshine,” he breathed between a particularly long kiss.

“Hmm?” She hummed into his mouth, going back in for another kiss.

“Do” _kiss_ “you” _kiss_ “know” _kiss_ “what,” he pulled back for a moment, held her shoulders and looked into her eyes, “sex is?”

She froze, her body stilling in his arms. “S-sex?”

There was some recognition in her eyes. But the way she had reacted to the word didn’t seem to be a good sign. _Oh, no. I fucked up,_ Eugene began to panic.

He cleared his throat. “We don’t, it’s fine. Just forget I said anything. Never mind.”

She crawled off of him and sat up, criss-crossing her legs, her nightgown creased and bunched around her thighs. _How unladylike._ He loved her.

He followed suit and propped himself up onto his elbows. He met her eyes, trying to read her and figure out what was going through her head.

“Why did you ask me about sex?”

She looked… _scared?_ “Blondie, do you know what it is?” He sat all the way up now, leaning against the pillows.

“Well… m-Gothel.” He noticed her mentally hitting herself for almost calling the old witch her mother. He reached forward to rest a hand on her knee. She placed her fingers over his and absentmindedly drew circles over the back of his hand. “Gothel mentioned it a few times. She always said that if I ever left the tower, men would… j-jump me and hurt me by having sex with me. That they would all want to use me in really...really...horrible ways for my hair. She told me that’s all that men want, is sex and then they leave…” she trailed off, looking pain stricken and like she might cry. Eugene’s heart clenched. How he wished he could spit and stomp on the old bat’s grave. But she didn’t have one and she didn’t deserve it either way. He just knew he hated her for locking Rapunzel up and filling her head with nonsense.

“Oh, Rapunzel,” he sighed and wiped away the first tear that fell from her eyes. He brushed her hair back, and scooted closer to her. “Sweetheart, she was so wrong about sex. That’s not what it is at all.”

She met his eyes. “It’s not?”

He shook his head. “Well, not usually anyway.”

“Eugene, you’re confusing me. Why would you bring up sex? Is that what you want?” She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to conceal the slight tremble that overtook her tiny frame.

He frowned. This conversation wasn’t going as well as he had hoped but he prayed he could make it better. He scooped her up and pulled her against his chest, lying back into the pillows and making the scene more intimate. “Do you remember how Gothel was wrong about your period?”

“You mean when you explained that all girls bleed and it doesn’t mean we’ve been naughty?” Her fingers trailed lightly over his chest, toying with the collar of his sleep shirt, and he nodded.

“Mhmm, just like that.”

“Well what _is_ sex then?” She’d stopped trembling which was a good sign.

“ _Wellll_ , I won’t lie to you, sweetheart. Gothel was right in that there are bad men who do hurt and use girls for sex. But as long as you keep me around, that will never ever happen. I wouldn’t let anyone lay even a finger on you.” He wasn’t going to keep secrets from her, the topic was a slippery slope but he wanted her to know that he would protect her from the jackasses of the world and that just because he was a man, that didn’t make him one of them.

She nuzzled against his chest. “You make me feel safe, Eugene.”

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Well, I guess I'm doing my job properly then. Would you like to know what sex is really like?” He just wanted to get this convo out of the way so that he wouldn’t have to wait and explain it all later. Best to do it in one sitting.

“Yeah, I’d like to know.”

“Alright well, it might hurt a bit your first time because you’re not used to it, but I’d be very gentle when we eventually do it. Married couples have sex because that’s how you have a baby.” Eugene looked to the ceiling when he said this last part, scared to look at Rapunzel’s face at the mention of kids.

She swallowed thickly. Anxiety clearly making its comeback. Sex was a tough topic to cover.

“But,” he plowed on. “If you want to try it someday, we can do it very carefully as a way to feel good.”

“How does it feel?” She asked. He looked down at her, a bit surprised by the question but also not surprised at all when it came to his ever-curious girlfriend.

“It feels amazing,” he said, very matter of factly. “It feels warm and you kind of get this fuzzy feeling and blur everything else out but the person you’re with.”

“Have you had a lot of sex?” She deserved the truth, but that didn’t make him any less queasy about it.

He grimaced, “I really didn’t care much for other women when I was Flynn Rider. So, sadly, I have slept around quite a bit. But I’ve never actually been in love with anyone I’ve had sex with.”

She took his face into her hands, tracing her thumbs over his cheek. “That doesn’t bother me, Eugene.”

“It doesn’t?”

“Well, did you ever hurt anyone you had sex with?”

“No, never. We always agreed to have sex.”

“Then it doesn’t bother me.”

Wow. How was he so _damn_ lucky??

“You're amazing. I hope you know that.”

“I do,” she grinned, cheekily. “You always remind me. How does sex work exactly? Gothel explained some concepts but they were always vague and, I think meant to scare me.”

He dragged his hand through her hair, feeling sad again at the abuse she’d been put through at Gothel’s hands. “You know I have a penis right?”

“Well, yeah.” She sputtered, unsure if that was supposed to be serious or if she was supposed to laugh. “I don’t know what it looks like, though. Some sort of giant, scary sausage-like appendage is how the visual was explained to me.”

“Well anytime you want to see me naked, you just let me know. I’m very happy to let you explore my body,”  
He winked at her.

She laughed this time, before pressing a small kiss to his lips. “You were telling me how sex works, Eugene.”

“Oh right,” he responded. “Well we’ll start out by kissing a lot, just like we were earlier. And then we might start taking our clothes off. Then, I’ll start to kiss all over your body.” He slowed his words down, making his voice breathy and sultry. He lowered his face to be level with hers, running his hands up and down her waist and feeling her arms pucker with gooseflesh. His charms were working.

“Then I’d kiss you between your legs, it’ll feel like nothing you’ve ever experienced. And you’ll be hit with this feeling like fireworks exploding all across your body. Then we might kiss some more. And then eventually, we’ll get to the point where I’d slide my penis into your body. Like I said earlier, it might hurt the first couple of times. It’ll be like a pinching feeling. But that’s only because your vagina isn’t used to having a dick in it. It’ll feel a lot better when your body is adjusted to me.” She held onto every word, intrigued by all of the things and emotions he was describing. He studied her face and the way she took in this new information, she shut her eyes to try and imagine it. He took the opportunity to kiss her neck again.

“You make it sound so nice.” She whispered.

“With you? It will be,” he grinned, dragging his kiss across her jaw. He pulled back again to meet her eyes, “But Rapunzel, since you are a princess, we’re not technically supposed to have sex unless we’re married. It’s some shit about stealing your virtue or something. But I originally asked because I want to know how you feel about it. We absolutely won’t do anything until you’re ready to. I know everything about this is new for you.”

“I really couldn't care less about royal customs,” she laughed. “I don’t see myself marrying anyone but you one day, Eugene. But maybe we could start with some other things before we get to that point.”

“Of course, sunshine. Got anything in mind?”

She dragged him into another deep kiss. “What were you saying earlier about letting me explore your body?”

 _Oh damn, does she realize how_ hot _she is??_

“You want to see me naked?” His eyes snapped to hers as she wound her arms around his neck, burying her fingers into his hair.

“Among other things you mentioned. I’d like to start slow.” Her grin was soft and seductive, he was melting quick.

“Well I’d love to be your teacher,” he sighed as she kissed him again, pulling the weight of his body over on top of hers and winding her legs around his waist, toes playing with the waistline of his pajama pants.

“You’re the best, Eugene.” He closed his mouth over hers, feeling the heat creeping back between their fused lips. He felt her love wash over him, pouring straight into his heart.

“Only because you made me the best, Sunshine.”

And with that, they happily explored and kissed and touched each other’s body until early morning light began to creep its way through the windows.


	2. Painting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! So I have decided to turn this work into a series of ficlets that sort of connect with an overarching theme of "do you know what this means / how to do this?" and through the ficlets, Rapunzel and Eugene will learn and explore the world around them, each other, and themselves. I don't know how many there will be because it is a bit of an open prompt that I write when inspiration strikes. Each chapter will likely contain elements or references to earlier chapters, but this more or less is a series of connective one shots. I would also like to admit that "What You Don't Know" by Airplane heavily inspired this piece (the title of the work even draws on that!) and I am attempting to embody a similar feel to that work with this series. I also must thank y'all for comments and feedback, I love reading them! And I hope that you enjoy reading this work!

“Eugene?”

There were soft knocks at his door. He groaned, rolling into his pillow. “Go away!” He called.

The door opened. His girlfriend slipped in and perched on the bed beside him. Her soft fingers trailed down his back, and his skin puckered with gooseflesh at her touch, a chill shooting straight down his spine. He turned his face a bit, half still mushed into his downy feathered pillow, the other half obscured by his bangs. 

“Good morning, Sunshine,” he mumbled.

There was no use mentioning how she had entered his room anyway after being told to leave. He wasn’t awake enough yet to fight a princess. He’d need a cup of coffee before that. And even then, he liked it when his princess was in his bed. He liked sleep too, that was for sure. But there was something nice about waking up to her sweet voice, the freckles on her nose, and her hand lightly grazing his skin that made him think waking up wasn’t such a bad idea after all. 

“Eugene, do you know how to paint?” Always to the point, that one.

“Do I what?” He rolled over onto his back now, grinning a little as her breath caught at the sight of his bare chest. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen him shirtless before, but she always seemed to be surprised whenever she did. He liked that. He liked being able to tell just how physically attracted to him she was, even if she didn’t always realize that’s what was happening. Although after their little discussion a few weeks ago, things were a little more clear for her.

He settled his hands at her hips and tried to pull her down on top of him. She wouldn’t budge. _Damn._ He wouldn’t mind a couple of morning kisses to go with her amazing presence. 

“I asked if you know how to paint.” She batted her eyes at him, large green saucers that seemed far too awake and perky for the hour. _Also, for the fact she had to have only slipped away from his room just a few hours ago and they definitely didn’t do much sleeping while she was there._

He sighed, giving up on trying to cuddle her into his bed and get a few more minutes of sleep. “Nope, can’t say that I do, sweetheart. Why do you ask?”

“Oh good! I hoped that was going to be your answer!” 

_“Whhhyyy?”_

“I wanna teach you!” She grinned at him and it was his turn for his breath to catch. He was putty when she smiled. She could make him bend to her will and do anything when she lit up like that, beaming and looking like sunshine personified. 

But still, he was curious. “Why the sudden interest in teaching me how to paint?” 

Eugene pushed himself into a sitting position, leaning back against his pillows and eyeballing Rapunzel, unsure of her underlying motive, but certain she had one. 

She edged closer to him and climbed up onto his lap, straddling him. Ah, this was his favorite arrangement, serving as her chair, feeling her relax against him as he wrapped his arms around her. She rested her forehead against his so she could still meet his eyes.

“You’ve been teaching me so many things lately, Eugene. Wonderful things about the world that I never knew or that weren’t explained to me properly...like sex for one…and I just thought that, well I felt like I needed to repay the favor. There are so many fantastic things that you know how to do but I don’t, so I wanted to show you something I know how to do but you don’t!” She looked a little bashful, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. But she was just so damn cute. How on earth could he say no?

“Oh darling, you don’t have to repay me! I’m utterly happy to teach you anything you like. But I wouldn’t mind a painting lesson from you either.” Eugene was certain he was going to be awful at painting. But he had the best teacher in the world to show him the ropes. He was never particularly interested in painting, but as if he wouldn’t try and do everything he could in this world to please this girl he loved so much.

“Yay!” She squealed. “My afternoon lessons were cancelled for today, so we can start then if you’d like.”

“Mmm sounds good. But first…” He trapped her in his arms and slid them both into a lying position. He snuggled into her, kissing her shoulder, and sighed. “Just five more minutes.” 

* * *

Although it had been a few weeks since they’d had the birds and bees talk, they hadn’t progressed much further than second base. Which was fine, of course. Eugene didn’t mind waiting and letting Rapunzel get comfortable with the feel of him over clothes. She was getting more comfortable to him feeling her up over clothes as well. But this didn’t make Eugene any less human nor any less turned on by his inexperienced girlfriend. In fact, it was even more thrilling to know that whenever she did feel ready to do the deed, he took great pride in knowing he would be her first, and her last, and her _only._

She had said she wanted to see him naked but that she also wanted to take things slow in nearly the same breath. She still hadn’t seen him naked and they were taking it at a snail’s pace. He wouldn’t complain. He had a loving girlfriend. He _loved_ his girlfriend. He taught her about the magical wonders of sex— _as well as what he could do with his tongue_ —and as compensation, she wanted to teach him how to paint. It was a fair trade in his book. 

But Eugene was still a man. A dirty scoundrel of a man. With a very overactive imagination at that. Because he couldn’t help but let his mind wander to just what else they could be doing with those paints Rapunzel was currently trying to explain to him. She was being very thorough in her teaching, explaining how the paints were made as she understood them. How they were mixed and crushed with shells and flowers to create the dye that would stain the canvas. He hung on to every word, eager to learn of course. He just also couldn’t help but think of her dipping her fingers into those small pots of paint and using his body as her canvas. He also wouldn’t mind using her body as his finger-painting canvas either, while he was at it. Because then it wouldn’t matter if he could paint at all. Not if he was creating art. 

“Eugene?” 

She snapped him out of his fantasy. He shook his head a little and took the brush she was offering to him. 

“I’m following sweetheart. I now know more than I ever thought I could have about how paints are made. What’s next?” Next was discussing how the brush in his hand was crafted, of course. He sighed, trying to stay focused on what she was trying to tell him. But he kept getting distracted by her lips. They looked delicious and it had been awhile since he’d kissed them (45 minutes, but who’s counting?). 

“Sweetheart… I sort of thought there’d be more painting than history in this little lesson of ours?” He couldn’t admit that he was bored and risk seeing the disappointment in her eyes. He also wouldn’t be honest if he said he was bored. Rapunzel had a way of making even the dullest topics sound interesting. But still, they’d be here the rest of the afternoon without even a single stroke of brush on canvas at this pace if he didn’t stop her. 

“You’re right, Eugene. Okay, you’re ready.” Rapunzel lowered the brush in her hand, she’d been explaining the bristles only moments before. 

_“Am I?”_ Eugene smirked, cocking an eyebrow at her playfully. 

“You are with a good teacher.” She grinned back, all teeth and pure, unfiltered joy. He liked making her happy. He liked watching her light up like the sun itself. 

“Lucky for me, I have the best teacher.” He reached forward and rolled a strand of her hair between his fingers before tucking it behind her ears and studying the freckles on her nose he was quite acquainted with. He’d tried counting them once, tapping each brown dot on her cheeks and assigning each one a number before she dissolved into a fit of giggles and he lost his spot and his number and had resorted to kissing her instead. Number thirty-five was his favorite freckle so far. It was the one under her right eye and so concealed by her thick bottom lashes that you could only find it if you were looking. It was like a secret freckle, one that no one other than him would even think significant, but one only he could admire up close and personal. 

She somehow grinned harder at his touch on her cheek, he felt her cheekbone rise and mold against his cupped hand and for a moment he thought he might get lucky and get a kiss. But then Pascal woke up from his nap which was perfect as Rapunzel exclaimed it and dashed forward to the little chameleon, proclaiming that he was to be the subject of Eugene’s first painting. Eugene’s mind flashed back to the idea of making Rapunzel his canvas but then shook it off, knowing both that he was a vile man and also that Rapunzel would be terribly sad and pouty if she couldn’t frame and display Eugene’s first painting. He had no doubt it would be a terrible painting, but he could picture the pride in her eyes at him completing something _she_ taught him how to do. 

And so Pascal posed on a pedestal, leaning back dramatically on a tiny Pascal-sized settee—Eugene didn’t even want to question how they’d gotten ahold of this furniture—and gritted a rose between his teeth. 

Rapunzel set up her canvas beside Eugene’s to show him how to start the painting, how to hold the brush so you don’t get paint all over your hand and smudge the painting altogether, and how to move your wrist to capture the correct shapes and lines. Which Eugene tried to follow along, because he figured he could handle shapes since he had drawn maps before and felt like he could be a decent cartographer. But there was a vast difference between ink on parchment and oil on canvas he found. His shapes were gloopy, blobby, runny messes and the colors were jumbling together to create an overall sense of _brown._

“It’s okay Eugene,” Rapunzel soothed, clearly noticing her pupil’s confidence was quickly dwindling. “You have to get rid of the excess paint before you apply it. We can fix this! I’ll show you.” She grabbed a rag and dabbed on his painting, effectively removing a lot of the excess and revealing thinner blobs of paint that she promised he could mold into Pascal. 

Rapunzel decided a hands-on approach might be better to get Eugene accustomed to the gestures and movements of painting. So she stood behind him and wrapped her hand around his on the brush, guiding him through a few flicks. With her touch, he could actually sort of see Pascal’s resemblance forming on the canvas in front of him. 

He also was quickly losing his focus due to the warmth of her body pressed against his spine. She was so close that her breath was warm on the back of his neck and it tickled the strands of his long hair with every exhale. She had her other hand pressed against his shoulder, holding herself steady against him so as not to be the cause of a ruined painting. And of course there was her hand folded over his, guiding his brush. He closed his eyes for a moment, reveling in the feel of her wrapped all around him. He rolled his head back against her chest, craning his neck to kiss the closest part of her body that he could. His lips landed on her chin. She froze and eyeballed him, a smirk tugging on the corner of her lips in a way that was so tantalizing yet also effectively making him feel bad for getting distracted. But the majority of his brain didn’t care, _this was Rapunzel_. She liked when he got lost in her emerald eyes. She loved watching her strong, roguish boyfriend come undone at her delicate touch. Even if right now was an inappropriate time, he knew she was still enjoying his attention. 

“Hi Blondie,” he beamed dopily at her. “You’re such a good teacher. I like this method of learning.”

“You just like that I’m all but doing it for you.” There would have been a bite to her words if she wasn’t already smiling, a tinkle of laughter accompanying her chide. 

“Oh, that’s an unfair assumption, Princess. I just like that you’re touching me.” Rapunzel laughed even more loudly now, causing Eugene to smirk with a look that said he was proud of himself, which he was. And even though he was being goofy, Rapunzel rolled her eyes and bent over him, brushing her lips against his upside down. He reached his free hand up over his head to grab her waist just so he could hold her kiss for a little bit longer than she would have let him otherwise. When she pulled away, she danced out of the grasp of his fingertips and back to her own canvas. Eugene sighed and returned his focus to Pascal and his painting, following all the tips Rapunzel kept giving him. 

In the end, they each had a painting of Pascal posed like a French woman on a loveseat. Rapunzel’s piece was better, she was the skilled and practiced artist here, but she kept gushing over Eugene’s finished product. She kept saying he had captured the emotion so well. He wasn’t sure what this meant really, he had just painted what he saw, but he trusted her judgement about these sorts of things. She kept saying she loved how good he had done, that he had gotten a good handle on the lines and shapes, when in reality, it looked a bit abstract to him. It looked like a child had done it, but she loved it and was already saying she wanted to arrange for it to be framed and hang it in her bedroom if he didn’t mind. He laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist, tugging her against his side, and planting a kiss to her temple as he noted the pride for him filling her eyes. 

He knew her so well.


	3. Lock Picking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rapunzel, do you know how to pick a lock? Because if not you’re going to learn right now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an FYI, this chapter is really spicy!

The knocking registered somewhere deep in Eugene’s mind and pulled him from his sleep. 

“Eugene! Let me in!!” _Bang bang bang_.

She was certainly a force to be reckoned with. Eugene clambered out of bed and opened his door, causing Rapunzel to all but topple over into him. Her eyes slowly worked up from his bare chest to his face as he crossed his arms and smirked at her. She blushed scarlet. 

“Can I help you, Blondie?”

“Why’d you lock the door? You never lock the door.” She pouted, which of course chipped away at his steely exterior, some complaint about lost sleep dying at the look of her with tousled hair and a silk nightgown. He sighed and opened his arms and she folded into him for the hug. 

“You haven’t visited me in a while, I can’t just have people barging in on me during my beauty sleep and catching me unawares.” 

It was true, Rapunzel hadn’t had the opportunity to slip away to Eugene’s room in a couple weeks. She’d barely had time for Eugene at all, actually. There were some sort of dignitaries coming to visit Corona in the next week and everyone had been up to their wits end trying to prepare their Princess for her first official meeting with foreigners. Eugene wasn’t worried, his princess was charming, beautiful, lovely, funny. She was smart as hell, smarter than he could ever possibly hope to be. He could go on forever with her attributes. 

For the most part, she wasn’t worried either. Not about meeting the dignitaries that is. She was always a go-getter kinda gal, but she was nervous about disappointing her parents and her tutors. She was nervous about walking the wrong way or saying the wrong thing because people who felt like they knew better because they didn’t spend eighteen years of their life in isolation put these thoughts into her head and gave her a reason _to_ be nervous. It made him mad but he wasn’t exactly in the position to be starting arguments over Rapunzel’s well-being with the king. 

But she was here now, and by the look of her tired eyes, Eugene wouldn’t be getting much action tonight, which was fine. He was tired too. And Rapunzel helped him sleep better—he liked holding her in the safety of his arms, burying his nose in her neck and falling asleep with her scent spilling over his sheets and her breathing sounding like music to his ears. 

“But what if I want to barge in on you and catch you unawares?” She had a sly grin, fingers teasing over the muscles in his chest. 

He wrapped his hands around her waist. “Oh, there’s quite another reason you don’t want to catch me off guard, Princess.”

“And what’s that?”

“Well what if you show up and I’m in the nude? I’ll need a moment to dress before I let you in.” 

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers at this. “N-nude?” 

“Buck naked, yes.” He nodded, hiding his enjoyment of her reaction. 

“Were you naked when I showed up right now?” 

“Would it matter if I was?” 

“Well what if I don’t care that you’re naked when I come in?”

Well. Now it was his turn to raise his eyebrows in surprise. Since their painting lesson, they really hadn’t had much of a chance to be together. Which meant they certainly hadn’t crossed over into “clothing optional” territory. But her declaration—nay, her _admittance_ —of wanting to barge in on him in the middle of the night and catch him naked sent something from his heart straight to his groin. He thickly swallowed.

“Rapunzel, do you know how to pick a lock? Because if not you’re going to learn right now.” _Bother me anytime you want. Please! I’m begging._

“I can’t say that I do,” she laughed. 

He reached into his nightstand for his lockpick kit. He handed it to her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “You want to learn? Barge in on me any time of night?” 

She giggled, turning the small leather pouch over in her hands and examining the tools inside. He explained the purpose of the three main tools she would need to pick the lock on his door, the torque wrench, the pick, and the rake. 

“You got that all?” He asked.

“Wrench, pick, rake.” She repeated, lifting each tool as she said each word. He bent down and kissed her, feeling almost giddy to teach her something.

It seemed like she knew how to do everything these days, she was so good at learning. She was so unbelievably smart and capable. But skills that thieves needed? Her tutors couldn’t teach that. Not even if they wanted to. Only Eugene had the expertise and know how to guide Rapunzel. And it made him happy to know he could show her how to do something that he was good at. 

He locked his door and closed it behind them in the hallway. The wall sconces were dim, slowly going out with the late hour. But there was just enough light to see and get the job done. And so Eugene taught Rapunzel how to apply the wrench and the pick to feel along the grooves of the pins in the lock on his door. He showed her how the rake could be used to jiggle each pin out of their locked position. He ran his hands over her arm when he could tell she was applying too much pressure to the wrench. It could so easily break under pressure. She stuck her tongue out in concentration, trying to work with the lock picks, and he tried to stay focused on teaching her how to pick the lock. 

She caught on to the movements, each small turn of the lock was a success as she pushed the pins out of place. 

After several minutes, she finally got the lock. She twisted the door handle and the door swung open. Her eyes lit up, she grinned at Eugene, waving the tools in victory. 

“I did it!” 

He laughed, “yes you did, Sunshine.”

He made her practice doing it again a couple more times before remembering the late hour and the princess’s busy schedule. 

“Come on, sweetheart, let's go to bed. You can keep my lock pick set.” 

“Really?” She beamed, clutching the little case to her chest. 

“Sure,” he laughed. “I don’t need it anymore, and if I ever did, well, you’ll probably be close by.” He tickled her side and she giggled and caught his hand and brought it to her lips, kissing the backs of his fingers. 

“Soo, I can really use this any night?” A familiar devilish look was back in her eyes. 

“You have my full permission,” he smirked, lowering his face to hers to steal a kiss. 

* * *

Rapunzel broke her way into Eugene’s room for the next several nights. To her apparent dismay, he remained clothed these nights because he anticipated her arrival and despite what she had said, he still wanted her to be in control when she did finally get his pants off. 

She was also far too exhausted all of those nights, from busy days of studies and training, as she tried to sponge up all the knowledge she could before the nobles arrived. Eugene thought it best to keep his pants on and not give her any reasons to lose more sleep. 

She just would crawl into bed with him, curl up against his chest, make some comment about his pants being on, and then she was usually out like a light. 

Eugene wasn’t the biggest fan of routine, because routines were boring, and predictable, and as a thief, he couldn’t be boring or predictable. But there was something about Rapunzel’s routine visits that made him happy to look forward to bedtime each evening. There were some days of late where he only saw her at breakfast and again when she showed up at his room late into the evening. And even if he wasn’t doing anything with her, he preferred seeing her at night over seeing her at breakfast. He enjoyed holding her, running his fingers through her hair and over her back, and feeling so close to her skin without a corset or any other restrictive clothing besides her nightgown. She was cute when she slept and sometimes she drooled on his shoulder or his pillow. And really, he just liked the intimacy of sharing _his_ bed with her. He couldn’t wait until she could stay in the same bed with him all night. That would be something. 

The nobles were expected to arrive tomorrow and Eugene had been poked and prodded all week to be whipped into shape for their arrival. There were lessons on customary handshakes, and bows, and dancing. He’d been fitted for new clothes for a ball and for the dinner, and whatever else. He’d been taking lessons on diplomatics the last several weeks as well because apparently the Princess’s boyfriend was expected to know all this stuff. It just left him exhausted. 

So exhausted that he had locked his door and gone to his bathroom to draw himself a bath with lavender oils.

He’d had a late dinner with Rapunzel. After informing her tutors that she needed to eat or else she would simply pass out, they allowed him to whisk her away down to the kitchens, where he made them both peanut butter and jam preserve sandwiches. She had crawled into his lap at the big table and ate her sandwich curled against his chest, his arms in a loose circle around her body. 

“Are you falling asleep, Sunshine?” He had whispered against her temple as she lulled in his arms, her half eaten sandwich loose in her hands.

“No,” she jerked, righting herself and blinking, bleary eyed.

“You need to go to bed, Blondie.” She sunk back against his chest to finish her sandwich and her hair tickled his chin and got caught in his goatee as she wordlessly nodded and agreed. When they had finished, he easily lifted her and carried her up the many flights of stairs and down the long hallways himself to get her to bed, where he gently deposited her, tucking her in and kissing her forehead. 

So Eugene shed his clothes and sunk into his warm bath, expecting a long, lonely night without his bedside companion and her frog. 

He submerged himself to his chin in his basin, letting the lavender he had added strip away his stress over this visit and how busy everyone was keeping Rapunzel. She just needed some sleep and some patience, but sometimes he felt like her tutors treated her like an untrainable puppy. 

_“They just don’t want me to embarrass myself.” she’d said this a few nights earlier, facing him in the dark, propped up against his pillow and twisting on a short lock of hair like she did when she was anxious._

_“I think they just don’t want you to embarrass_ them _,” Eugene scoffed, pulling Rapunzel’s hands to his mouth and laying kisses against her knuckles. “You’re absolutely perfect, Princess.”_

He cracked his neck and leaned his head back against the edge of the tub. 

He couldn’t wait for this week to be over. The nobles weren’t even here yet and he couldn’t wait for them to go. 

His door clicked. 

He cocked his head at the noise. 

_The hell?_

Rapunzel burst in and sprinted for his bed. It was empty. She began to pat the mattress frantically, fear and desperation driving her to act foolishly as she spun around looking for him. 

“Eugene?? _Eugene!!”_ She wailed, arms twisting around her torso as she tried to hold in a sob. 

“Rapunzel? I’m in here.” _I thought I tucked you into bed…_

She dashed into his bathroom, a crying, blubbering mess. And without thinking, he stood up and climbed out of the tub to grab her to his chest and comfort her. 

“I’m sorry,” she gasped between cries. “I-I had a nightmare and when you weren’t in bed, I—“

“Shhh,” he soothed, running his fingers through her hair. “It’s okay, Sunshine. I’m here now.” 

After several long moments in his embrace, her breathing finally began to calm. And it was then he realized he was still naked. And dripping wet from the tub. She seemed to realize this too. 

She drew away from him, her hair clinging to his damp skin, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize you were bathing—“

Her eyes shot downward and Eugene’s face burned bright red. 

And then he was torn. Should he cover himself? Should he not?? This was Rapunzel, his _girlfriend after_ _all_. 

She looked fascinated, all traces of the scared and crying girl were gone. He gulped. 

“Rapunzel?” 

Her eyes snapped to his, a little diabolical grin he recognized taking shape on her lips. It was the kind of smile she used that would get him to agree to anything.

She took a step closer, a tentative hand reaching. “Can I—?” Her eyes were pleading. 

His eyebrows lifted and he gulped again, suddenly finding it very hard to breathe. “Sure,” he nodded breathlessly. 

She reached a delicate finger and slid it over his tip. He hissed out a swear through gritted teeth and gripped the side of the tub behind him. He wasn’t even hard, but when she touched him, it was like electricity had flown through her fingers and into his delicate skin. 

He wanted to shut his brain down and give over to the parts of himself dominated by, _well_ , what Rapunzel was currently fascinated with. That part of him had wanted this for months as she had kissed and explored her way over his body. She had felt him up over his clothes, sometimes stopping while they were kissing to inspect when she felt him grow hard against her leg. He had intrigued her but she still had wanted to go so painfully slow, and now some of that barrier had fallen away just because she had innocently caught him in the bath. 

Her dark eyes mirrored his own and she stepped up to him for a kiss. He grabbed her waist and held her against him, the fabric of her dress crinkling beneath his rough hands.

He captured her lips, kissing her fervently. Her hands gripped his tense shoulders, she snaked a hand up into his hair and tried to tug him closer. Her tongue slid between her lips and crashed against his. The heat was palpable between them and growing hotter still. 

He lifted her off her feet, arms wrapped around her to carry her to his bed. She leaned back into the mattress and he crawled over her body, fingers tugging on the strings of the corset she was still wearing. He realized now he had put her to bed earlier in all of her day clothes. She must’ve been uncomfortable. 

She groaned and grabbed his face, pulling him close enough to kiss him again. He sucked on her tongue and bit her bottom lip and she moaned right into his mouth. 

Eugene was definitely hard now. He pulled away again to work on getting the damn corset off of her. She watched his erection eagerly and turned her eyes to his face as she reached her hand out to touch him again. He swore more loudly than he had before and had to brace his hands in the sheets on either side of her head to center himself.

“Fuck, Rapunzel.” 

She grinned and surged upwards to suck on the pulsepoint on his neck, causing him to moan noisily. He pulled her up into a sitting position and got onto his own knees, pulling on her corset while she continued to do her good work on his neck and his shoulder. She swirled her tongue along his collarbone and he buried his face against her hair to release another moan. 

He finally got the corset untied and flung it over his shoulder, in the hopes that it would land somewhere never to be found again. He yanked on the sleeves of her dress until they slipped down her arms and her dress pooled at her waist, leaving her in only her thin slip to conceal her body. Then he pulled that over her arms too and it joined her dress at her waist. 

Before he could even get a good look at her, she growled impatiently and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him back down into the mattress with her. He could feel her breasts flatten against his chest, and he prayed he wasn’t smothering her as she hungrily reclaimed his lips. 

He ran his tongue down her throat and she hissed and purred with pleasure beneath him. 

_“Eugeeeenee…”_ she sighed his name like a silent prayer, panting as he filled her with unchecked desire. 

She had teased him with her touches, he had to repay the favor. His tongue ghosted over the hardened tips of her nipples and she sucked in a sharp breath, head thrown back in over-stimulated pleasure. She gripped his hair and tugged in a way that would have been painful if it didn’t feel so good. She glanced down at him, chest heaving in anticipation. He smirked and wrapped his arm around her waist, hand splayed against her spine as he dipped his head to her sternum and planted kisses over her chest, and the tops of her breasts, and down her stomach, and up again. 

She mewled needily, gasping and panting as he laid kiss after kiss on her body.

“You alright, Princess?” His voice was deep and husky and he lifted one flirty eyebrow.

She moaned in response and nodded, simply yanking on his hair again. He grinned and palmed one of her breasts, swiping his thumb over her nipple and making her breath hitch. He bit playfully at the underside of her breast, drawing another gasp, before he laid his mouth over the soft peak, swirling his tongue all around her nipple before switching to the other one. 

She wrapped her legs around his hips and moaned as he continued to play with her breasts, his hands roaming up and down her sides, keeping her skin alight and clinging to her warmth. 

Her hand slipped down between them, reaching for him again. He let out a loud groan as her fingers wrapped around his shaft. 

“I want to make you feel good too,” she breathed. “Roll over.” 

An icy shiver ran the course of his spine as he pulled himself up to kiss her lips again before obliging to roll away onto his back as she pressed at his shoulder. 

She sat up and tucked her knees beneath her, her dress was pooled around her hips and he could finally drink her in.

“Wow,” he breathed.

She met his eyes and blushed a little. “What?”

“You,” he smiled. “You’re beautiful, Rapunzel.”

She looked down at herself and her blush deepened. “You really think so?”

He reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I know so, Sunshine. I’ve never met anyone more beautiful than you.”

She laughed and leaned down to kiss him, a hand splayed against his chest. He craned his neck to capture her lips, propping himself up on his forearms. 

She bit her lip and wrapped a hand around him again. His head fell back at the contact, a moan slipping from his lips. She leaned over him and began to kiss his neck, all while keeping contact with his erection and letting her fingers explore this new fascination. 

“Am I doing this right?” She whispered. 

She was just touching him, letting her fingers dance over him the way she had felt his fingers move over her sides countless times. A small smile touched his lips as he looked up at her. She wanted to make sure he was enjoying this. There was no way he couldn’t enjoy anything with Rapunzel around, but she wanted to learn. 

He grabbed her hand and wrapped it around his base before beginning to pump up and down. He sighed in bliss at the feel of both of their hands joined together around him, pleasure pulsing through his body. Her free hand cradled the base of his skull. 

She started to get the hang of the movement and he let go, relaxing back into the mattress even as his whole body felt alive at her touch. He moaned, and wrapped an arm around her waist. 

“Kiss me.” He begged, voice deep and gravelly. 

Without losing momentum with her hand wrapped around him, she leaned forward and met his greedy lips. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and he moaned at the intoxicating taste of her and the feel of her, and with her scent wrapped all around him, Eugene was lost in a world filled by Rapunzel. 

All too quickly, his muscles began to tighten, signs that release was near. And he tried to hold himself together, because it was what he was used to doing; making this last for as long as possible, refusing to give into release until it burned, the edges all blurred by the haze of lust and sex with some girl whose name he wouldn’t remember by morning. 

But this was Rapunzel. 

She wanted him, wanted _Eugene_ . No, she _deserved_ Eugene. Not Flynn. 

“Sunshine,” he warned. “I’m close.”

Her lips raced to his throat, to find that one spot again that made him stop thinking. He let out a deep groan and threw his head back, his vision funneling, his muscles clenching as his entire being pulsed and erupted with pleasure. 

“Oh god, Rapunzel.” He panted. It was the best damn orgasm he had ever had. 

When his vision cleared, he found Rapunzel staring at him, a weird look of intrigue and adoration adorning her face. 

“That was good?” She bit her lip.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “That was amazing. Come here, you.” 

He pulled her into his arms, still trying to calm his breathing, but needing to feel her skin against his. He pressed his lips to her temple and ran his fingers through her hair. 

And then, Eugene did something that was maybe stupid. He had only been dating Rapunzel for a few months. She was still relatively new to the world beyond her tower. But she wanted to experience this world with him, and he certainly had never felt this way for anyone before. He certainly had never said this to anyone before. At least not while sober and even then, he definitely didn’t mean it.

“I love you, Rapunzel.” 

He looked deep into her eyes and was met back with eyes widened in shock. Her mouth opened and closed for a moment. She seemed surprised? 

She quickly regained her composure and plastered on a smile. A fake smile, he could see right through it. “I didn’t know you felt that way, Eugene.”

His heart stopped beating. _What the hell?_

  
  



	4. Dance Like a Diplomat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: ah, yes this is just going to be a single one shot  
> Me, a few months later: I take that back, it's gonna be a collection of one shots with WYDK vibes!  
> Me, yet again sometime later: you know what, what if I just rewrite wydk and give it my own flare?
> 
> Katie to me while I'm CLEARLY struggling with figuring out what I'm even doing with this fic anymore:  
> the fic: do you know?  
> emily: I do not :((
> 
> Anyway this picks up right where chapter 3 left off! and we'll see where this fic will go next! Thank you to everyone who reads and to those who leave comments, your comments always make my day! <3

Eugene woke up to a cold bed. 

The nobles were arriving today. 

He shoved aside the memories of the night before as they tried to wash over him. 

Everything had been so great until… Until Eugene had bared his heart only to be met with something that tasted cold and bitter. Something like rejection that wasn’t rejection. 

He sighed. Logically, he assumed it was just one of Rapunzel’s traumas. Admitting you love someone is scary, and depending on how the old witch had treated her, maybe she was scared of love. 

And it’s not like Eugene had admitted how Rapunzel’s disregard of his feelings for her had made  _ him _ feel last night. 

No, they just went to bed like normal. As if nothing had happened. 

And now she was already gone, a packed agenda awaiting her for the day and Eugene would be lucky if he saw her at all before the dinner this evening. 

He climbed out of bed, still naked, and went into his bathroom to wash up and prepare for his own equally busy day. 

He looked over and realized the tub was still full of water. He reached in to pull the plug from the drain, cold water instantly icing his arm and making him shiver. 

* * *

Eugene had a few more etiquette lessons that morning, along with a final fitting of his new jacket for the ball tomorrow night. It was a deep green with gold embroidery and he didn’t recognize the man in the mirror wearing it. 

He was only 22, maybe older, he’d lost track of time for a while on the run. Either way, he was remarkably young to have lived a life so hard. He’d grown up in an orphanage. He had no family. He only used to use women to relieve boredom and release tension. 

Rapunzel changed all that. 

He didn’t know a damn thing about love. And neither did she, for that matter. And yet, somehow, for her, he was being fitted for a stuffy, regal jacket. A jacket made specifically for him, so he could escort the future queen to the ball. He put up with diplomats and a king who would have had him dead not even six months ago. He put on his best behavior every day and turned his life around. He dropped his moniker and embraced being Eugene again. He did it for her. He fucking did it all for her. 

Flynn Rider didn’t know a damn thing about love. But Eugene Fitzherbert was learning more and more each day about what loving someone meant. What it did to you. He knew without a doubt that he loved Rapunzel. And her rejection burned the back of his throat like bile. Because if he could figure it out, why couldn’t she?

Eugene sulked through his day. He was so moody that everyone seemed to sense the storm cloud over his head. He had a break from etiquette training when his instructor had had enough of his bad attitude and needed a reprieve from him. He wasn’t even being sarcastic like usual, he was just straight up being rude and unresponsive. 

He pouted like a young child as he entered the banquet hall. Rapunzel wasn’t there, but Queen Arianna was. She was sitting in her normal place at the table, delicately eating a bowl of soup with bread. She looked up at his arrival and warmly smiled. 

“Ah! Ciao Eugene, vieni a sederti, caro.” She greeted him in Italian and invited him over to sit beside her at the table. 

A servant brought Eugene his own bowl of soup and a loaf of bread. It was a trophy meal, something he would have stolen anything for during a cold day when he had no bed to keep warm in. He sunk into the chair beside the queen and couldn’t believe he’d been cold and hungry at only the start of this calendar year. 

Queen Arianna asked him something else, in French this time—once she had learned he could speak multiple languages, she had used that to her advantage to keep each other fluent. It was just typical conversation: was he excited for the ball tomorrow night, and did his lessons this morning go well?

He just shrugged in response and spooned up his soup. 

She set her spoon down and sighed, reverting back to their native tongue. “What is going on between you two? You were two lovebirds at dinner last night and now… What happened?”

“What do you mean?” Eugene asked, despite who he was talking to, he wasn’t one to easily let down his guard.

“Rapunzel was so sad she could barely eat breakfast this morning. And you, Eugene. Well you haven’t been free to join me for lunch in awhile. And you definitely have never been so sour when we’ve spoken. What happened? And don’t give me any excuses, I can see right through you.” She gave him a pointed look. 

He pushed his bowl away and ran his hand down his face and through his hair, before he slumped in his seat with a sigh. 

“I told her I love her.”

“And?”

“She said she didn’t know I felt that way and gave me a fake smile.” 

“Ah.” 

His eyes snapped to the queen’s. “Ah?”

“Well, now it all makes sense.”

“No offense, your majesty, but I truly do  _ not _ see how any of this makes sense,” he snapped.

She laid a hand on Eugene’s back and began to rub soothing circles over his spine, like only a mother could. In some ways, she treated him like a son. 

He’d gotten on with Arianna right away, bonding with her almost faster than Rapunzel did. He was still working on her husband though, it felt that he and King Frederic had a tenuous relationship, which Eugene supposed was understandable, being that he was dating the king’s daughter and all. 

But the queen had taken him in, with advice and inside jokes in other languages, and he loved her for it.

“Dear, I think you are the only one out of the three of us who truly understands what Rapunzel’s living situation was like before she met you. You were there, you met her kidnapper, you rescued each other in one of the most traumatic moments of your life.”

“But what does that have to do with her loving me?” He would never admit it, not outside of that room, but he choked on his words and felt hot tears boiling below the surface. He ground the heels of his palms into his eyes as if he could possibly force the tears back down, deep inside of him. 

Arianna’s secure arms wrapped around his shoulders and he was pulled into a hug. She was small and soft like Rapunzel, and Eugene realized in that moment that although she had not grown up in her real mother’s warm embrace, she certainly hugged him just like her mom. He felt safe here and a single tear slipped between his eyelids and ran down his cheek. 

“I know she loves you, Eugene. I just don’t think she knows how to say it out loud yet.” 

“Is it okay to feel mad?”

“Who are you mad at, dear?”

“I don’t know. Rapunzel. Gothel. Myself?” He looked up at her.

She laughed and ruffled his hair. “I understand that all too well. I think you both need to talk about it. But I also think you need some time to yourself to feel mad, and when you feel better you need to listen to her when she is ready to talk to you about what happened. I also think you need to tell her how her reaction made you feel. She wouldn’t want to hurt you as much as you don’t want to hurt her, Eugene.”

“I know..” He whispered. 

Queen Arianna gave him a soft smile and stood from her seat. “I’ll see you at dinner this evening, please try not to bite off any more of your instructor’s heads—or the diplomats arriving today, for that matter.”

“You heard about that?”

“I hear about everything,” she winked and walked out the door. 

* * *

That night, Eugene locked and bolted his door for good measure, before climbing out his window and scaling up to the flat edge of the roof, where he spent the next couple of hours. Ample time for Rapunzel to try and come to his room, and far enough away where he wouldn’t hear her bang on his door, cry, or walk away when he didn’t answer. He didn’t want to lose his resolve. And he didn’t want to see Rapunzel tonight. 

Dinner had been a nightmare. 

Eugene dropped his head into his hands, replaying the events from earlier this evening.

Rapunzel was cautious and Eugene was a live wire, ready to snap at any given moment. 

“Eugene, I’m—“

“Hello princess,” he’d said, bending over before her and kissing her hand as he had been instructed to do. “Is this  _ the _ Sir Anthony I’ve heard so much about?” 

Funny, how a reformed criminal could so easily step into the shoes of a diplomat. Eugene’s every move felt calculated. He was Rapunzel’s boyfriend and they had guests, he had to act the part, even as he so desperately wanted to make her understand the hurt, the pain, and the shame she made him feel.  _ Do you love me or are you just playing a part too? _

They spent the dinner in a dance of forced politeness, Eugene burying his sour attitude in glasses of champagne, smiles that didn’t reach his eyes, and ensuring he didn’t look at Rapunzel for too long, or he’d feel it all again. He did something he hated, he engaged in small talk with the visiting dignitaries.  _ Don’t you see I’m doing it all for you? _

Arianna kept a worried eye on Eugene the whole night, but he ignored her, too. He would not give into his emotions at this dinner, he could fly under the radar and be charming, winning the approval of their guests. It’s how Flynn had managed to stay alive. And tonight, Flynn had made an appearance, forcing Eugene and all of his messy feelings into the shadows. Flynn didn’t give a shit. Which is precisely why Eugene needed him.  _ She loves me, she loves me not. _

He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind that he was being childish and an ass for no reason. Logically, he loved Rapunzel, and he knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Knew she wanted to marry him someday. But she couldn’t admit she loved him. Maybe she didn’t know how, or—and here his anxiety was kicking in and causing his heart to beat faster and a warm flush to spread from his back to his clammy feet and hands— _ maybe she doesn’t love me after all.  _

Flynn stomped down on those thoughts, a cool laugh sliding out of his throat at some ridiculous joke Sir Edward made that wasn’t funny in the slightest. 

He chanced a glance backward and caught sight of Rapunzel trying to hold back tears, her eyebrows pinned together, glaring furiously at him. He turned back around and raised his glass to his lips, downing the champagne and reaching for another glass, he needed to stop feeling, he needed the fuzziness around the edges as the alcohol took effect. 

“Why are you doing this?” She grabbed his arm when dinner was finally over and he was heading towards his room. She caught up to him in the quiet corridor and couldn’t stop the tears collecting in her eyelashes. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Flynn snapped, ignorance had always served him well.

“You drank too much and you've barely said a word to me today, Eugene. Can’t we please just talk about this?”

“I’m going to bed, Rapunzel. Goodnight.”

He peeled her fingers off his arm and, because he loved her or because it was routine, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, brushing her choppy bangs away with his thumb. He left her staring dumbfounded after him as he continued on to his room. 

Eugene stared up at the moon. When he was younger, there were times when the moon was his only companion, maybe even his only friend. He felt that way again tonight. He dozed off in a dazed, half drunken state, under the moon’s protection, his sadness and bitterness clenching his heart, and consuming his being. Dreams of Rapunzel breaking his heart over and over again filtering in, “I don’t love you, Eugene. I never have. No one ever will.”

* * *

The problem with escorting a princess to a ball is that, well, Eugene couldn’t come up with any problems. Not really. None that were substantial beyond his current situation, anyway. 

He was hurting, and he’d spent most of the day hiding in the library, reading fantasy books about King Arthur and how he’d lost Guinevere to Sir Lancelot. 

He didn’t want to be Arthur, and okay, it’s not like he was in any peril of losing Rapunzel to some prick in the guard—like who could even compare to him? Stan? Pete? They were laughable substitutions. 

But the issue really, was that he wanted to talk to Rapunzel, he wasn’t angry so much anymore as just sad. And Rapunzel was busy all day, in meetings that Eugene didn’t belong at, or preparing for a ball in ways that Eugene couldn’t help her, and when they were finally together, they had to wear a happy facade for the public. It was her first real public appearance with visiting nobles, and Eugene was not going to be the one to muddy her reputation on account of his bad attitude and behavior. 

Also, she looked so beautiful he momentarily forgot why he was even upset in the first place. Her dress was all lace and chiffon, in a pink so pale it looked like a dream. The sleeves draped off her shoulders, clenching around her bicep and leaving her clavicle completely bare. The pink lacy corset was laced up intricately, giving her cleavage that Eugene would have liked to get lost in. The skirt ran to the floor in drapes of chiffon, she pulled an edge of her skirt up to show him her feet were bare and he gave her a genuine smile and a laugh, because that was just like  _ his  _ Rapunzel. Some of her short hair had been woven into a crown braid on the top of her head, with little white flowers delicately placed throughout her hair. Her cheeks were bright pink with rouge and her eyelashes were longer and darker than usual. 

She looked radiant. 

Eugene almost felt dull beside her in a green jacket and tan pants. 

“You look beautiful, Sunshine,” he whispered, bringing her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to her fingers, fighting an overwhelming urge to turn her hand over and kiss her wrist, and up her arm, and over her bare shoulders, before deciding they should blow off this whole ball and this whole weekend, forget anything weird had ever happened, and go back to his room and spend the night making out. 

“You look handsome, Eugene.” But the smile was slightly forced. And he was brought back into the present, where there were uncertainties hanging in the air between them, and she was still worried or otherwise concerned about his behavior from the evening before.

“Shall we?” He asked, gesturing towards the double doors that led into the ballroom. She nodded and took up his arm, holding her skirts in her other hand in the way she had been taught. If he thought about it, he supposed some of the weekend’s weirdness between them was in part due to the presence of the nobles and how much pressure there was on Rapunzel to be this perfect little princess she assumed everyone expected her to be, despite Eugene ensuring her she was already perfect and needed to only be herself. But right now, even beside him, entering the ballroom, she wasn’t his Rapunzel. No, he could see she had different facades just as well as him. He’d given her a bit of Flynn attitude last night, and now he was being faced with  _ Princess _ Rapunzel. A bit of his bitterness was setting back in.

Eugene gave into small talk again, Sir Edward had taken a liking to his jokes and Sir Anthony just wanted to be around Eugene so that he could be closer to Rapunzel. Eugene had been watching the damn fool make eyes at his girl since the evening before. Only last night, he’d been too tipsy and full of himself to really think about it. Well, Eugene wasn’t going to be nearly as idiotic as King Arthur. And Sir Anthony was no Lancelot. 

After dinner, the king gave some heartwarming speech about how happy Corona was to have their lost princess back in their arms, and how symbolic and beautiful it was to be able to join with other kingdoms in celebration. It was something like that, Eugene hated to admit it, but he stopped paying attention after a while, getting antsy, and letting his fingers dance on the tabletop, his foot tapping nervously beneath the tablecloth. The queen gave him a look and he stilled his hands on the flat top. She pushed a glass of champagne towards him and winked. Eugene took a sip just to busy his hands.

Finally, the band started up and people began to dance. 

“Shall we dance, Princess?” Eugene lifted Rapunzel’s hand, trying to convey that right now, he was here for her. 

She laughed, “Eugene do you even know how to dance?”

“They taught me a few things, but nope. Not really. You’ll have to teach me as we go!” 

He pulled on her hands and she stood, smiling and looking happy. He felt his love for her wash over him, he bit back an urge to say the damn word again and ruin another evening. 

“I don’t know how to lead,” she admitted, putting a hand on his shoulder and taking her other hand in his.

“It’s okay,” Eugene said, taking up her waist. “I don’t know how either.”

And somewhere in there, he thought maybe there was a metaphor for their relationship. It takes two to tango, or, in their case, waltz. But either way, they both knew a few things, but they were really dancing their way through this relationship blindly, learning how to go on from there. 

“Eugene, I thought about what you said the other night.”

“Hmm?” He was distracted, the music was picking up faster and he was lost in his swirling thoughts, his emotions, and how sweet Rapunzel’s hair smelled, as well as he tried not to step on her bare toes.

“You know?” She peered up at him, looking guilty and concerned. “With the ‘L’ word.”

He swallowed hard. “Oh, we don’t have to talk about it, right now, Rapunzel. I get it.”  _ You don’t know if you love me yet, it’s okay.  _ The thought surprised himself. 

“No, Eugene. You need to hear what I have to say.”

“Alright.”

“When Gothel told me she loved me, she used it as a way of keeping me tied down to her. Like to guilt me. ‘You wouldn’t leave the tower if you loved me, dear’ she would say. I know you’re not Gothel but it just… it freaked me out when you said it.”

She looked sad. Like she might cry, sad. Eugene stopped moving, letting the dancers swirl around them. It all made perfect sense, really. He’d been suspicious of this from the moment she rejected him. He cradled her cheek in his palm, and opened his mouth to speak. 

“Mind if I steal the fair princess for a dance?” Sir Anthony appeared out of nowhere at Eugene’s shoulder.

_ Yes, I do mind, actually.  _ But he wasn’t supposed to. He knew there was something or another about Rapunzel’s duty as Princess of Corona and how she would have to dance with others, no matter that she was his girlfriend. She gave him an apologetic look, and he pursed his lips and stepped back, letting Anthony take his place and effectively lead Rapunzel in a waltz that Eugene was incapable of doing. Then everyone wanted a turn with the princess: the other visiting nobles, her father, a few guards, townsfolk who had been invited to the castle for the celebration. Eugene didn’t get another chance to dance with her, but he kept his eyes on her all evening, ready to get her out of any situation if she seemed uncomfortable, or to punch Sir Anthony square in the nose if his hand moved any lower on her hip. 

The ball eventually came to an end and Rapunzel said her goodnights to their guests before she retired to her room. 

Eugene got to his feet and made his way to his room as well. He took off his boots and his fancy jacket and laid down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, hands folded over his stomach. 

He felt kind of guilty. 

He’d been such an asshole this weekend, he wasn’t there for Rapunzel like he should have been. He didn’t think they were fighting, he assumed you needed to have an argument to be in a fight. He guessed it was more of a miscommunication? Maybe just plain a lack of communication? On both parts.

He rolled onto his side. 

Rapunzel really did look so pretty in that dress. He smiled remembering how normal it had felt to be silly with her, when she had lifted her hem and wiggled her bare feet at him before the ball had even started. 

He sighed.

He missed her.

So Eugene decided to do something he had never done before. He snuck into Rapunzel’s room.

He climbed out of his window and crept across landings and scaled over bricks until he pulled himself up onto her balcony and knocked on her window. 

Confused green eyes appeared at the glass, delicate fingers working to undo the latch and push open the barrier between them.

“Eugene?” She whispered, bewildered. He noted that she was still in her ballgown and utterly alone in her dark room. Except for Pascal, who curiously eyeballed Eugene from his perch on Rapunzel’s shoulder.

“Can I come in?” His voice was soft, gentle. The control here was in her hands. 

She nodded and moved away from her window seat so that Eugene could climb in. 

Upon closer look, Eugene could see that Rapunzel looked dishevelled. Some of the ribbons on her corset were undone and her sleeves had been removed. Her crown braid was loose, and there were little flowers littering the floor. It looked as if she had been struggling to undress herself before he got here.

“Where’s your handmaidens?” He furrowed his brow.

“I sent them away,” she shrugged. “I just wanted to be alone.”

“Can I help you?”

“I guess.” 

Eugene sat down at her window seat and Rapunzel stood in front of him, letting him work on the many ties holding her intricate corset in place. Pascal scampered down her shoulder, to Eugene’s hands, up his arms, and into the window seat, burying himself in the cushions for a nap.

“I’m sorry our conversation got interrupted earlier,” He whispered, keeping his eyes on the ribbons, trying to avoid looking her in the eye.

“I’m sorry I brought it up at the ball.” 

He met her eyes then. “Hey, it’s okay. I wasn’t really giving you any other chances to talk before then. And this is an important conversation for us to have. Sunshine, I’m sorry. I should’ve realized how saying that would make you feel, I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Eugene.” She put her hands on his shoulders and stooped to be eye level with him. “Please don’t blame yourself. How could you have possibly known? You weren’t there for my childhood. I should have anticipated that this would come one day and talked to you about it sooner.”

Eugene felt a pang in his heart. Did she never want to consider loving him?

“Rapunzel? Do, do you know what love really is?”

Her head dropped to her chest. “Sometimes I am so unsure of everything in my life, Eugene. Emotion-wise, I struggle really hard with knowing what’s real. I  _ know  _ you are good to me, that you only ever have my best interest in mind, that you act with good intentions. But, Eugene, I was lied to for eighteen years of my life that I will never get back! And sometimes I just feel like I can’t even trust my own mind! That I’ll think I can trust something or someone, and I’ll just get hurt again. So, no, to answer your question. I don’t know what love really is.” 

She fell against his chest, between his legs, her arms tucked in between them, needing the full effects of his safety as his arms twined around her body. 

“That’s okay, Sunshine. I never knew what love really is either, until I met you.”

She pulled away to look at him. “What?” Her voice was thick with tears.

He swallowed thickly and a corner of his lips lifted in a smile as he looked at her, his hands on her waist. “Rapunzel, I have no basis for love either—even less than you do, really. Because I know that you know how to love. You love Pascal, and you love painting, you love learning new things, and… it’s okay if you don’t know how you feel about me yet, as long as we can try and be open with each other.”

“I don’t feel the same way for you that I feel for Pascal, Eugene.” 

“Well, what do you feel for me?”

She ignored his question. “How do you know what you feel for me is love?” 

“Well, I don’t know.” He resumed his work, pulling at the ties of her corset, hoping he could get something right tonight. “I just know that when I look at you, I know I don’t want to ever stop—ever stop looking at you, or your eyes, your freckles, your hands, your legs, your hair. I don’t want to ever stop hearing you say my name— _ my real name— _ or ever stop getting kisses from you, or hugs, or have you tell me something new you learned about. I know that you make me feel alive in ways that I never felt when I was out on adventures, running from prisons, and women, and treasure. I know that when I see you, Rapunzel, I see our future, with little kids that look just like you and me. I know that you make me feel so happy that if this isn’t love, I just don’t know what else it could possibly be. Because no one—and I mean  _ no one _ has ever made me feel the way that you make me feel.”

He finally pulled her corset away from her, leaving her in her shift and her chiffon skirts as she stared at him through thick lashes, her lips parted just slightly. 

“Really?”

Eugene felt something gritty in the back of his throat and prickling behind his eyes. He sniffled and nodded, not trusting his voice in fear of it cracking out. He was still getting used to vulnerability. 

She leaned forward slowly, back into his personal space, and time seemed to slow down. Her lips tenderly brushed over his, like she was scared of breaking something, or maybe starting something. Eugene breathed over her lips, eyes still wide and looking into hers, waiting to see if she would signal him to deepen this moment. Her hands anchored against his shoulders and she pressed her lips more firmly to his. His eyes sunk closed and his arms wrapped around her waist, trying to pull her closer.

She stopped for a moment, pulling away to wiggle out of her giant skirts, which she kicked away from her before pulling up her shift and straddling Eugene’s lap. Her hands buried into his hair and pulled his face up towards hers, tongue flicking out to writhe against his. She moaned softly into his mouth as his hands trailed her back. 

“I missed you,” she breathed between kisses. “I’m sorry things got weird.”

Eugene let her speak while his lips roamed down her throat, licking and sucking over her pulsepoint to drive her wild.

“I missed you too, sweetheart. I’m sorry things got weird, too.” 

She reclaimed his lips, grinding her hips against his and his already hardening bulge. With a growl he lifted her and carried her towards her bed, hungry lips still on hers. He dropped her on the mattress and crawled over her body, dropping his head down to kiss her shoulder, and her jaw, before finding her lips once again. 

She worked at the buttons on his shirt, desperately moving to get his clothes off while he kept kissing her lips and her neck. His shirt joined her corset and her skirts on the floor.

He pulled her shift up over her hips and dragged his lips down to her stomach, cradling a breast over the fabric, his other hand wrapped around her and splayed against the small of her back. He ran his tongue over the soft, delicate flesh of her belly, her muscles feathering and jumping beneath his touch. She gasped and moaned as he laid kiss after kiss on her body.

_ “Eugeeeene,” _ she cried out, head thrown back in over-stimulated anguish. “Please!”

His fingers hooked under the hem of her underwear, “You sure, Princess?”

“Yes!” she sighed, hands pushing on his to get her underwear off and find some satisfaction for the itch burning deep within her core.

He peeled her underwear away, slick as it was with desire and grinned. She was half naked, panting beneath him, and absolutely perfect. And he loved her for it. 

The first stroke of his tongue against her bud sent her thighs clenching around his head, fists gripping the sheets, a sharp gasp of air into her lungs. 

“Relax, Sunshine.”

He watched her head tip back in bliss as he did it again. He swirled his tongue around her center then dipped a finger inside of her, watching her body language for any signs of discomfort. She moaned. 

Attuned to every movement and involuntary jerk of her body and the noises she was making, Eugene began to pick up speed, his tongue and his fingers moving in tandem to bring her over the edge. 

“Eugene! Something’s happening!” 

With a growl, Eugene moved faster, feeling her muscles begin to contract. She let out a gasp that turned into a delicious cry as she rode out her orgasm, her legs shaking around Eugene’s shoulders. He pulled his finger out of her and licked it clean, loving every bit of Rapunzel’s taste washing over his tongue. She was still panting as he moved back up her body. 

“Eugene,” she gasped out. “That felt amazing.” 

He pressed a kiss against her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her. 

“You’re amazing, Rapunzel.” 

She twisted in his arms and wrapped a leg around his waist. 

“Please stay with me tonight. I hated not being near you last night.”

“I did, too.” He admitted, “I was mad and I just wanted to pout and be angry. You didn’t deserve that. I climbed up to the roof last night just to be able to resist you if you came by. I’m sorry.”

She laughed, “The roof? I didn’t even try, not with how drunk you were last night. And I was mad at you, too. But it’s okay now.” 

They resettled in the sheets, with Eugene taking a moment to remove his tight dress pants, and crawl into bed beside Rapunzel in his underwear. She lay against his chest and played with his hands.

“Rapunzel?” Eugene said after a while. 

“Hmm?”

“Would it be okay if I started saying I love you?”

She was quiet for a bit. He could feel her thinking. 

“Yeah,” she said. “It would be okay.”

“I love you,” he whispered, kissing her temple. 

“Eugene?”

“Hmm?”

“You really see a future with us and kids?”

“Lots of them,” he breathed, feeling his eyes begin to droop and trying to fight sleep.

“You make me happier than anything else, too, Eugene. Even happier than painting, than meeting my parents, than seeing the lanterns on my birthday. You make me feel loved,” she whispered.

Sleep was trying to take Eugene and he was in a realm of sleep where he could hear everything she said but he couldn’t form any coherent words. 

“I love you, Eugene.”

They were lying in her bed together, nearly naked, skin against warm skin, in the flickering candlelight. Her declaration was the single most purest and sweetest sound that Eugene had ever heard.

Just before he finally drifted off completely, he felt soft lips brush over his, and heard a soft and happy sigh before the girl in his arms snuggled into his chest and whispered one more time, “I love you, Eugene.”


End file.
